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Guardians of Middle Earth

Launched today and I have to say I'm really enjoying it. Hildifons Took is a beast.

While most people probably have reservations about the game that have come from PC MOBAs I'm really damn impressed with it so far. Pretty extensive as far as everything they've included outside of the actual matches and they changed enough in terms of gameplay to make it feel pretty unique.

I'm a bit conflicted about this game. While I am happy to see the genre get more exposure, I just don't feel like I have the time to learn how to play another MOBA game. If it's about half as complex as Dota 2 I may give it a try, but given the nature of the beast I think I'll stick with what I know.

That said, I'm curious as to how it plays. I haven't kept a close eye on it or anything, so I'm pretty much in the dark.

I feel like it's a bit simpler as far as management goes but they make up for it with new gameplay systems. As far as controls go your character/hero has a range circle around and and in regards to the attacks it almost plays out like a twin-stick shooter. Normal attacks have a cone of effective area and you get enemies inside of it and pull RT to attack. All the abilities behave the same way as far as aiming goes, but for example, the guy I was playing had a trap type thing with a circle instead of a cone and he would plant the traps where the circle was located. Same general idea but somethings have a longer range and differences in how they are deployed.

There's no mana management, all the spells are balanced off of cooldowns and it seems to balance pretty well given all different effects applied to your character in-game. What I mean by that is on the map, in a 3 lane game at least, there are 3 different 'control points' where you can capture different buffs that spread to your team. Damage resistance, passive healing, stuff like that. Then the higher level you are you can upgrade towers/mob spawners to have different abilities. Mob-spawner upgrades range from mounted mobs that move faster and big siege mobs that do more damage to towers (an ent and an ogre respectively). The towers can be upgraded to do things like have a healing aura/damage aura or attack faster/shoot more projectiles at once.

It didn't take very long to grasp, esp with the tutorial they provide. Everything else is pretty standard MOBA style stuff they just have healing flowers scattered around the map for fall-back points and whatnot. They also don't have in-game equipment upgrades. It seems like you have "load-outs" you make outside the games and pick which to use before you're actually in the game. Last thing I can think of mentioning is the LoL style commander abilities you get as you level up. I haven't seen any of them but one but they are all pretty varied. You can have 3 at any one time but they share a cooldown.

Feel free to add me, I picked it up today. I'll play friday if you wanna fnf it.

And yeah Kuma if you've played League or Dota this is far simpler. No shopping or last hitting, it's basically a teamfight game. It uses a similar system to the league rune/mastery thing, except not as painstakingly long to unlock the stuff.

I'm somewhat interested in this game, as a person who has dabbled very little in MOBA games (ugh, still hate that name). I saw that the "impressions" thing on Dtoid mentioned a retail copy for $30 with a season pass, though. I'm not really into the idea of paying for more characters, so this might keep me away.

I'd be willing to try the complete package for $15, but that additional $15 (at least) of DLC dangling over my head is making me hesitate.

I'm somewhat interested in this game, as a person who has dabbled very little in MOBA games (ugh, still hate that name). I saw that the "impressions" thing on Dtoid mentioned a retail copy for $30 with a season pass, though. I'm not really into the idea of paying for more characters, so this might keep me away.

I'd be willing to try the complete package for $15, but that additional $15 (at least) of DLC dangling over my head is making me hesitate.

I'm not sure how they'll approach the additional characters when they are released but as it is now they have a rotation going where it seems that weekly you'll be able to use a selection of characters regardless of whether you "own" them or not. IE: I can use Sauron but i've only bought Runsig (who's gotta be borderline OP or I just rip people apart with him). 15 bucks honestly isn't awful though for what you'd be getting imo (assuming you like the game) but even then, if you don't like it enough to purchase characters there's still quite a lot of 'stock guardians' to choose from and use. They aren't really holding anything "hostage". I'm guessing they'll be like 2 or 3 bucks a pop individually when they release.

Bilbo, Bert the Troll, Barrow-wight Lord, Snaga, and then 4 unknowns. You also get survival mode, which I guess is their version of a horde mode for a MOBA. That's also on top of the 22 characters they already have as well. 22 seems like a sizable chunk to me without needing to purchase more if you don't want to.

Awesomenauts is pretty good too, but it was kind of abandoned for it's pc version much like Dungeon Defenders was. If you're alright with limited updates, I'd say you should at least check it out as it's pretty fun.

Awesomenauts is pretty good too, but it was kind of abandoned for it's pc version much like Dungeon Defenders was. If you're alright with limited updates, I'd say you should at least check it out as it's pretty fun.

You think there is going to be more of a community with this LOTR game? I don't want to just play against AI opponents. Awseomnauts is 10 bucks on XBL and this game is 15; I have a 1600 microsoft points card waiting to be burned and this seems like a game I can see myself getting into and spending some time with.

It has the benefit of being one of two things like it on console so maybe. But these games will never match LoL or even Dota in terms of community size. It'll probably have a few dedicated players, but I don't see it getting esports big if that's what your asking.

It has the benefit of being one of two things like it on console so maybe. But these games will never match LoL or even Dota in terms of community size. It'll probably have a few dedicated players, but I don't see it getting esports big if that's what your asking.

Nah I'm not looking for it to be esports big, just something I can jump on every once in a while and waste a couple hours of my life with and play with actual human beings. The game is fun, I like tanking/warrior type characters and was enjoying playing as that huge Orc dude (forgot his name); he sucks when you play the 1 lane map but the 3 lane map I was wreckin shit with him.

I seem to be way better with more...support-like characters. Tacticians and whatnot. I can't get used to strikers, especially with the bows. I think the only reason I didn't get manhandled as Legolas was because of his little teleport.

As far which you should get it's hard to say. I have both and love both of them, I just got left behind my folks who could play it on Steam and find a larger crowd/new characters. Great game but it's not as fun playing randoms. Randoms don't really bug me in this as much for some reason.

Wow, this game is surprisingly great! I've played the demo for an AI match, and I really think they nailed the Dota/LoL feel on consoles. Not sure if I'll get it, though... no time to invest in it. I'll bite when there's a sale, though.

I just picked this game up. I am awful at it. Then again, all I really want to do is run directly into crowd while playing Gandalf and AoE the shit out of them. It's not smart, but you pretty much kill of the soldier in one ability use, which is kinda funny if you are pushing towers.

i've been pretty heavy on tacticians, namely Runsig. Pretty insane having a massive army at your back as you stampede down a lane.

But for those who haven't been on a bit they have a new 'map' to play on they released for free. The Shire.

I was playing a Nori earlier. He's also a tactician and puts out a lot of silly buffs for your creeps. It was pretty funny to see opposing heroes actually turn and run from a squad of goons (instead of said goons being immediately killed) as they worked the shit out of towers. The fun bit is that his level 5 ability when maxed does 600 points of damage to structures and will one shot the smaller creeps in its radius. I like him a lot.

I might try Ruinsig, but I have been trying to stick with good guys until I unlock Sauron, and I only want Sauron because... you know... He's motherfucking Sauron.

Also Ramble On by Led Zeppelin is my Guardians of Middle-Earth jam because it's a silly song for 45 year old men.